Monday, August 26, 2013

The pitter patter of hundreds of tiny feet

At Dolphin bay resort we slept in a fancy tent with a double bed which was about 10ft from the sea in the jungle.  This was really cool apart from being awoken in the middle of the night as Stuff felt a creepy crawly against his leg.  He heroically leaped out of bed, shouting “there’s something on me!!!” and grabbed the torch.  We looked in the bed and found three small red creepy millipedes.  Now we don’t mind bugs but don’t like sleeping with them.  We cleared them out and went back to sleep.   Stuff was promptly woken up by another one about 30 mins later. With the comedy factor wearing off and our minds convincing us we were covered in bugs, sleep did not come so easily. The following night we did a pre sleep bed check to remove any visitors, finding a couple more of the little buggers. After much pondering and a little investigation we decided they must have been making there way into bed up the valance so we tucked the valance in and formed a ring of insect repellent around the bed. Thankfully this seemed to work.

By Stuff and Things



Looks inviting but whats under the sheets.........

Dolphin Bay Resort

So we had been in Savu Savu for a day or two and were desperate to do some diving or surfing or at least some snorkelling over some reef so we decided to head up to an island called Tavenuui which has one of the ten best dive sites in Fiji called rainbow reef.  We bought our bus tickets and got the bus the very next day.  Greg said he would be back in about a week and would we like to help sail the boat back to Denaru and we said yes so we agreed to meet up in a weeks time.  We set off for Tavenui at 06:30am by bus.  Well we say 06:30 but it was on Fiji time so the bus left at more like 07:30.  We had a 2hr bus journey along the coast and through mountains and jungle, it was pretty cool.  We stopped by a village and about 15 people got on an already packed bus, it was chocca.  Luckily most of them were kids so they did not take up too much extra room.  

We arrived the ferry port which was a field with a rock jetty. Then some one else who was also staying at dolphin bay came up to us and said the manager lady was on the phone and we should speak to her.  She arranged for a boat to pick us up in about an hour.  We then sped round to Dolphin Bay and it was frickin beautiful.  Pretty much like all the pictures you see of tropical paradise.  A white sand beach with palm trees and turquoise water.  We stayed here for about 3 days and had 2 dives on Rainbow reef.  

The first one was Purple Wall, which as the name suggests is a wall with loads of purple coral growing on it.  We also saw a clown trigger fish, grouper and the usual millions of species I don’t know the name of.  The second dive was at a place called Jerry’s Jelly which was a drift dive.  We saw 2 white tip reef sharks, a blue ribbon eel and garden eels.  There was this wicked current that shoots you up over a under water hill.  So much fun.  We also saw some ghost coral which starts off brown and when you touch it it turns white.  It is really difficult to describe how cool diving is especially with my dulled literary skills.

We also did lots of snorkeling at Dolphin Bay where we saw a sting ray, a red big eye fish and again millions of other fish.  We also saw a banded sea snake, which Things kindly reminded me has a venom 20 times more potent than the most poisonous land snake.   Luckily it has rubbish teeth so cant actually harm humans unless you allow it to bite the skin between your thumb and fore finger.   

Dolphin Resort also had 2 dogs which we instantly befriended as we love dogs.  It also had about 10 cats.  We went for walk to the next bay and took one of the dogs with us.  She instantly became our friend after we fed her some pizza crusts at lunch. Typical dog, cupboard love.  

By Stuff











Sea Farer 4

We were waiting to hear from Mathias when we found a notice in hostel from a guy called Greg who was looking for crew for a few days up to Savu Savu.   We emailed him and he was happy for us to help crew the boat.   He told us to meet him at Port Denarau in a couple of days at about 08:30.  We were there and off we went.  Greg reassured us that he had a never sailed to this part of Fiji before, had a hangover and we going through the windiest part of Fiji.  So off we went.  We motored for the first part of the day round the coast of Viti Levu and then we had to make a decision whether we were going to sea proper or stay in shelter for the night.  We decided to go to sea as it was not too windy.  We headed out and there was a brisk breeze but nothing unmanageable.  We headed North East between a reef and an island.  The wind stayed fresh and was in a direction that was not perfect but allowed us to make head way.   It was about this time we saw a pod of dolphins that stayed with us for about  15mins.  Not sure what species they were but they were tiny!! Looking into to it a bit more I think they were spinner dolphins.  

Night began to fall so we arranged to take watches.  The wind was brisk and there was a fair bit of chop.  We were trying to sail North East towards Savu Savu but we did not want to go too quickly as we had a tricky reef pass to navigate and we needed daylight to do it.  We were making good time se we slackened off the sails and bounced our way through the night in choppy sees each of us doing 2 hr watches and having 4 hour sleeps.  We arrived at the reef pass at about 7am and headed through the reef and into safe anchorage.  We were all pretty tired as it had been a fairly rough night so we got a few hours kip before we decided what to do next.  We woke up about 11ish and we decided to get moving as it was raining yes raining.  Fiji does actually get lots of rainfall that’s what makes it so lush and verdant.  Greg thought we could make it to Savu Savu by evening if we set sail, so off we went. We arrived in Savusavu in the dark and rain but were met by one of Greg’s friends on a tender  
Who lead us to our mooring and in the blink of an eye we were ashore for a big dinner and a beer followed by a much needed early night!!! 

By Stuff



Photo of the Sea Farer 4 by Things

Crew Available

We put some notices up in marinas saying we wanted to crew yachts around Fiji.  We had no responses but we did find some adverts looking for crew so we went to find the boats.  The first boat we went to was called the Spirit Guide and was owned by Captain Billy.  We went aboard to find Captain Billy who had a bandage around his leg and was bleeding profusely.  We chatted to him for a bit before he decided he needed a lie down as his leg was bleeding so much!! We suggested a doctor maybe but Billy would not have any of it.  We said we would pop back in a bit.  So off to the next boat which was the other side of the marina.  This boat was owned by a guy called Mathias who was Norwegian.  He had bought the boat in Taihiti and was sailing across the Pacific to Indonesia.  He said he was more than happy to have us as crew but was waiting to here from work in Norway, so might have to go home.  He had never sailed before he bought the boat in Taihiti!!  Brave me thinks, but then he did explain he worked for the military and seemed pretty cool headed.  So we went back to see Captain Billy, his leg was bandaged and not pissing blood everywhere now so that was good.  We sat and had a chat with him for about half an hour, he had pretty much jacked everything in about 7 years ago, bought a boat in France and had sailed it ever since.  He wanted us to pay for us to sail with him so we bailed on that boat and kept looking.

By Stuff

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Fiji baby yeah!!!!!!!!!

Bula bula bula

We're in Fiji!!!!!!!

This is something of a dream come true for me (Things)!!! However it is not all champagne sunsets and five star cruises! 7 months away from home with no income have taken their toll on my finances, that and some vast PADI contributions to boot so its job seeking time.

We have our options wide open which is very exiting but very unknown. Our two basic plans are for me to take the next dive job I can get my hands on or get on yachts to crew around the south pacific, allowing us free accommodation twined with transport. Although some marine conservation project would also be awesome. We're planning to sail to the Solomon islands, were there maybe work opportunities for me!

So I've thrown my hat in the ring and advertised my vast skills and loveliness. This has surprisingly lead to some interest, so far people have got in touch about jobs in Mozambique, Jordan, Vietnam and one from Fiji. We have also managed to find several crewing opportunities, one of witch we sail on tomorrow for a couple of days around Fiji!!!

So many irons in the fire, so many decisions!! Good thing is I'm not sure any would be wrong!!!!!

PS Find me on the PADI Pro site or email me if you happen to run a dive shop, conservation project or own a yacht!!!!

By Things

A Royal visit

So as mentioned before the lovely Rika Royal (Cubicalthrowdown, see fav blogs to the right of the page) arrived in Canada about 24 hours before I (Things) left. This meant we could meet up and eat Ethiopian food. This was a first for me and I loved it, kind of been craving it ever since and have a feeling nothing else will ever satisfy!! It was an all too brief encounter but so pleased to maintain contact with my Roatan connections. I was lucky enough to be able to have lunch with dive lovely Yulia too whist in Vancouver. I’m desperate to maintain this good form. Kat moore I coming for you next, but to any connections Roatan or otherwise if I’m ever in your area tell me and I will do what I can buy you a pint or coffee, anything lets just all keep bumping into one another all over the world!!! 

Photo of me and Yulia at a really good sushi place (sushi bang) need one of miss Rika and me, will try to post in future!


Vancouver Activity log

Waterfalls
Hobbit drove us to an amazing water fall on the road north from Grouse Mountain, unfortunately we can’t remember the name. But Things loves waterfalls so we had a walk about and a bit of a paddle in the cool cascades. Its free with lots of parking so would recommend it. Will try to find out the name!!!

Lonsdale Fishing
We rented a boat and went fishing, bit extravagant but we got a good deal. We saw a seal pup and mother, then an eagle.  Hobbit fell asleep on the boat for the whole time, not sure he was in the mood.  Us two and Amanda had a blast cruising up and down trying to catch a sock eye salmon.  I’ll emphasize that we tried to catch a salmon as back to our usual fishing trips we caught sod all.  It was still cool as we got drive the boat ourselves and set up all the gear which was kit we had never used before.  Things did a magnificent job of skippering whilst Stuff was first mate and in charge of fishing gear.  

Sminke Minke/ Victoria (Little Britain) 
We went to Victoria on Vancouver island to go whale watching.  Took the ferry across and the bus down to Victoria.  The scenery in Canada is truly amazing, snow capped mountains with pine forest everywhere, fjords and blazing sunshine…  Go see it.  We saw a Minke whale which I felt a bit sorry for as there was about 8 boats all trying to get a glimpse of it.  All in all good day out.  We got stuck in Victoria as our Tour was late so we missed our bus back to the ferry, so found a nice hotel and went to an Irish bar. Here Things had a pint (yes it comes in pints) of Kronenburg, (that actually tasted like lager) for the first time in 8 months.  Victoria reminds me of the UK. But better.

Capilano Suspension bridge and Capilano Park and Salmon hatery
So it was a public holiday in Canada so we decided to do something close to Grouse mountain to avoid traffic. We headed to the Capilano Suspension bridge park. This was a mistake. We realised this when we found out the price but foolishly bumbled ahead as we were already there. Stuff was not very happy. The Bridge park itself is kind of cool with impressively engineered bridges over a revine but very very crowded (not like the adverts) and quite sterile considering its in a forest. We made the best of it (Things more than stuff) then decided to head to a salmon hatchery up the road.

The salmon hatchery is in Capilano park. Capilano park is free, uncrowded and beautiful, with some normal bridges over stunning rivers that to be honest were to my mind as good as the suspended ones. The hatchery at the center was also free to look round with loads of information about the Salmon program and even a fish pass with glass sides so you can watch the salmon jump up the levels, very geeky I know but we loved it. Do not bother with the Suspension Bridge Park, just go to Capilano Park spend the day, go fishing, have a picnic etc its lovely! 

Grouse Grind
Stuff and I had different onward flights due to timing of bookings etc. because of this I had a bit of time to kill so on a whim decided to climb the grouse grind, a 2800ft trail up the mountains. The trail is made up of a slightly winding path of steps made out of rocks and tree roots. Its really cool and beautiful but pretty brutal particularly in flip flops (not recommended). Still I was not trying to break any records and took my time, which was around 1h 10m. Defiantly an awesome work out and cheaper than the gym. It only costs $10 for the cable car ride back down and you could hang out at the top of the mountain or do some more hiking, bargain!! 

By Things

The endless hunt for wing night

The search started as always with hope and what seemed to be an endless number of cheap chicken wing options.  The first night in Vancouver, Stuff spotted an advert for chicken wing Mondays and chicken wing, lingerie Tuesday’s at the same sports bar. It was neither of these days so we kept the paper and looked forward to the start of next week. Monday came around and we looked to the paper to recall the name of the bar.  We then discovered we had burned said paper trying to start a BBQ the night before. Now as ever cool in a crisis we referred to the interweb to find the same bar or a replacement Monday wing night. We found one and set off only to find that the web site wingsnbeer.com is a big fat liar. The bar did exist but about an hour from the address given and where we were. This lead to an SOS call to hobbit who dutifully picked us up to deliver us to wings. Stuff was becoming a little concerned (ok, panicking) that we might not get fried delights.  The wings were good and cheap, it was not however the original bar which we later found out to be called Mavericks, so we decided to try again another night. For some reason the boys in the group favored trying again on a Tuesday ( chicken wing and lingerie night). Thankfully/unfortunately when the time came it was decided Mavericks was too much of a drive so we headed for a closer Tuesday wing night where between three of us we ate 100 chicken wings of different flavours for very little money. Cheap and tasty but admittedly grotesque.  25c chicken wings,  yes they are probably hormone injected, rapid growth mingers but for 25c a chicken wing with about 25 flavours we ware happy.  

By Stuff and Things



Vancouver- Stuffs Perspective

Vancouver is an awesome city mainly due to the fact you can get an 18 piece sushi meal with miso soup for $6.95.  This would include a California roll, Yam (sweet potato) roll, and tuna rolls.  Firstly the tuna is actually raw tuna and really meaty not the cooked mashed up with fork crap you get in the UK.  The other too are awesome, but I’m not going to explain, go to Vancouver and get stuck in. 

Vancouver is also awesome due to the fact that pretty much most people rely on people being honest and general prepared to pay there way if they can.  If you get on a bus and don’t have the right change you travel for free, yes for free!!  Now you would have thought everyone on the bus would conveniently not have the right change but no, everyone has travel cards or pays.  Sorry to be so down on the UK but I could not see this system working.  Anyone from the UK will instantly know why and if your not I’ll say it simply, people would not bother to pay.  Also when we travelled on the sea bus between Vancouver and North Vancouver no one ever checked our tickets, it always said have your tickets ready for inspection but they were never checked.  Amazing.

My experience of public transport in the UK is generally overcrowded, dirty and over priced.  God I hate being down on the UK as it is an awesome place but it is so difficult when you visit other places that are just much better organised.   

One more example.  We travelled to Vancouver Island to go whale watching and left Hobbits car in a car park.  We totally messed  up our timings had to stay in Victoria, which by the way is awesome.  We realised that the parking ticket was going to run out on hobbits car and we thought it might get towed.  We stressed about it, called up the ferry company who gave us the car park companies number.  We called them gave them all the information we had which was not much, they told us not to worry they would find the car and place a ticket on the window which we could settle the next day.  I was amazed by this because if it had been the UK you would have got through to someone who would have said there was nothing that could be done, returned to your car to find a meat head who had clamped your car and would then be demanding to £250 release fee and £250 admin fee.  Not in Canada my friend you get nice people who will go out of there way to help you.  Sorry UK but we need a change, rather than trying to screw each other over at every opportunity we should try and help each other.  Yes it nauseates me to say that.

By Stuff





Sunday, August 4, 2013

Grouse Mountain

So when we haven't been on Rikas magical mystery tour we've been staying with some friends on Grouse Mountain.

Grouse mountain is in north Vancouver and its one of three mountains in the range that are big hiking/snow sports type places. Its currently summer so no snow but amazing views. They also have two wolves and two bears. Ed's uni friend Hobbit works on the mountain, he currently lives with Amanda who has worked there for 5 years and manages stuff. She gets to live in a cabin on the mountain for free and has very kindly been putting us up. This is amazing for us as we get to ride up and down the mountain every day in cable cars for free. We also got to see all the shows like birds of pray and the lumberjack show on top of the mountain for free.

The best part so far due to Hobbits connections is that we got to do a honey call for the bears. Normally only staff do this. Its in case the bears ever need to be shut in the covered part of their habitat for any reason they 'train' them to come to the house when called to be fed honey.

So with only a metal fence between us and two honey craving grizzlys we got to fed them with a spoon. We were so close they could sneeze on us and I even got liked by one whist holding the bowl to the fence for them to finish of the last of the honey. Their names are Grinder and Cooler and were both orphaned in different incidences so brought to Grouse mountain. I don't always like animals in captivity but they probably would have died in the wild plus their habitat is very big and natural and they seem pretty happy. One thing I will say is they are huge (60 stone), particularly when a foot away from you, you can really appreciate the size and power, so so cool!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Bears!!!!!!

We also got to go up a chair lift to the eye of the wind, which is a huge turbine on top of the mountain, with full panoramic views.

As for hiking we have to do a small very upward climb from the cabin to the cable car to get off the mountain, this has been some welcome exercise after over indulging in tacos in Mexico. However there is a trail called the Grouse Grind that is very well known and a must do. We'll see, we may attempt it at our own pace.

By Things


Photos of the view from Grouse, an Eagle from the birds of prey show, the bear I fed and the Eye of the wind.





The List

Vancouver Baby,

So we've been in Vancouver for a little over two weeks, but we have had little time to post and less internet so forgive our absence from the airways, I will now try to do some catching up.

So our lovely friend, SCUBA Goddess, Canadian, and knower of all things good, Rika made us an awesome suggestions list of things that should be done in Vancouver. this can be found on her awesome blog at http://www.cubiclethrowdown.com.

We have begun trying to tick of as much as we can fit in. So far we have done the following,

Walking through the crazies to China town.

So we started our Canadian adventure in Gas Town. This was a pretty convenient location and was an OK hostel with a bar serving amazing dry ribs (The Cambie Hostel). From here China town is a short walk away, unfortunately its a short walk through Hastings which to quote Rika is infamous for homeless people, needles on the ground, hookers and drug dealers. This we can confirm. They are however relatively harmless crazies and seem more interested in shouting at the people inside their heads than harassing us too much, although a ridiculous amount of people will ask for change in a multitude of often bizarre ways, including telling you jokes or drawing your picture on a cardboard box.

Found Rikas favorite sushi bar, and eaten our weight in Sushi

We tracked down Zero One Sushi. It was yummy, we have however been eating Sushi every day its about the only thing in Vancouver that's cheap, and its so cheap and so so so good!!!
We would recommend Sushi Bang, its very tasty and cheap but a little out of town near Cambie and Broardway.

Walked through Kits park to the Planetarium
We decided to head to the planetarium, but overshot it a little on the bus and had to walk down through Kits and the park. Its very pretty lots of posh cars. However we ended up not getting to the Planetarium till fairly late so decided we'd come back when we had more time. So we walked over Granville bridge and around English Bay. 

Checked out the sea wall

From the Cambie Hostel we took several walks along the sea wall to watch the sea planes (sea planes are awesome!!!) and read the information boards they have. I know its sad but they're pretty interesting snippets of Canadian history, like about importing Camels and treating the Chinese badly. We also sat in Coal Harbor Park a few times in the sun. 

Granville Island
We missioned over to Granville Island from Grouse Mountain. We have been getting very good with the public transport system this is helped by the fact its awesome, sea buses, electric bus/trollies and sky trains all link up with ease and you never seem to have to wait more than 15mins for anything. The Public Market is really really cool, its just full of yummy stuff from fruit and meat stalls to huge whole salmon. We had a good walk round before stopping for several beers in the sun overlooking the water. Lovely!!!



We are looking forward to trying to fit in more, particularly the Electric Owl and Wreck Beach. We have driven through Stanley park lots but will hang out there before we leave.

Thanks Rika

By Things